Variable length inflatable escape slide

ABSTRACT

A lower extensible end portion of an inflatable escape slide is tucked or stowed and retained uninflated by restraint flaps enclosing the end portion intermediate the slide ends, and closed by quick release grip means on the flap edges. A cable, cooperable with the grip means, passes through a one-way lock assembly and terminates with a weighted mass. When the upper end of the slide is below a predetermined height, the mass weight contacts the ground and the cable is not active to open the closed and locked flaps. Above the predetermined height, the mass fails to make ground contact and its weight draws the cable through the one-way lock assembly which locks the cable against reverse movement, inflation of the slide causing the cable to release the restraint flaps and permit the lower extensible end portion of the slide to inflate and extend.

United States Patent [72] lnventors James R. Summer 3,391,771 7/1968 Day193/25 Brielle; 3,463,266 8/1969 Day 182/48 232: g fiia fiti figfy s zgPrimary ExaminerAndres H. Nielsen pp No 752,355 Att0meysOrv1lle R.Serdner and John N. Hazelwood [22] Filed Aug 13,1968 [45] Patented Jan.12, 1971 [73] Assignee The Garrett Corporation LosAngelgs CalifABSTRACT: A lower extensibleeid'portion of an inflatable T ofcahfommescape slide is tucked or stowed and retained uninflated by restraintflaps enclosing the end portion intermediate the slide [54] VARIABLELENGTH INFLATABLE ESCAPE SLIDE ends, and closed by quick release gripmeans on the flap 14 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs. edges. A cable, cooperablewith the grip means, passes through a one-way lock assembly andterminates with a U.S. weighted mas5 when the upper end of the slide isbelow a 182/48 predetermined height, the mass weight contacts the groundhit. and the cable is not active to open the closed and locked flaps.[50] Fleld 0f Search Above the predetermined height, the mass fails tomake 250, 25115, 258, 25X; 182/48; 244/137 ground contact and its weightdraws the cable through the [56] References Cited one-way lock assemblywhich locks the cable against reverse movement, inflation of the slidecausing the cable to release UNITED STATES PATENTS the restraint flapsand permit the lower extensible end portion 2,936,056 5/1960 Heyniger193/25 of the slide to inflate and extend.

PATENTEU JAN 1 2 IBYI SHEET 1 BF 2 FIG.2

INVENTORS. HENRY C. MOCLAUGHLIN CLARENCE S.MELANDER BY JAMES R.SUMMERAGENT PATENT ED JAN I 2 I971 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTORS. HENRY c.MocLAUGHLIN CLARENCE s. MELANDER BY JAMES R.SUMMER AGENT stair, ramp organgplank -is available, the cegress opening #or 1 v "VARIABLE LENGTHINFLATABLE ESCAPE-SLIDEY BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION exit door in suchcases usually being ;':elevated iquite some 'distance abovethe-.groundslt has beencustomarywto lprovide a inflatable escape slidesforaircraft such-as those a patterned after they escape slide-(shownand-described-jn 11118.5 Pat. No.-

'l-leyniger.-ln that patent available lengthiescape slide is showniwhichjprovides for substantially optimum rate of: descent: for evacueesof the aircraft under conditions of variable heightiof the'doorsillabove ground. The latterlcondition-lmay occur,--for example, inthe case of-collapse of the nose gearof theaircraft orrnalfunctionofits'extending mechanism which :precludesit from normalextensionpriorz-toilandin'g ,ofthe aircraft.

Descent rate of evacuees on-an infla table:slide is governed 4 to a verylargeextent by the angle between the slide .surface 1 and the ground.ptirnurn-rate is usually achievedwhenpthe angle is'between-about s'o asa minimumwand about;-50 -asza maximumt The less the angle, the lesschutexactionzobtained; and evacuation doesnot proceed with idispatch;'If'the angle is very -much1 more than -abo.ut-50, the slide .tsurface:-.is= atoo precipitous and evacuees may. -be-sornewhat stunned -.or eveninjured l upon impact; with the :ground'and fail to ,make ;way.quicklyforthe nextevacuee. 1

Thelaforesaid llleyniger patent discloses-an inflatable slide.

"member-having a lowerpendvaportiomwhiehmay lbe tucked "back-intoits-medial portion and retained inpthatrcondition by a having a quickrelease slider-: arrange dtto engage-or-disengage.

disposed on fastener stringers securedon theslideimemberyin-x.

tel-mediate the lower; end and medial'portionsthereof. :Ther'wrelease-slider is "adapted to {hand manipulation andyas :the

patent-states, "it is preferable toremove-or release thewslider- 2 lprio'r to inflation." Thusthe known slides'ofr'the" priorlart,

which are variably extensibletini'length', require) armanual.-.act;"predicated-on 'human-judgmentas :tothe'. need ,f o'r:the: act=,: torhave a'variation of length executed.

SUMMARY'SOF THElNVENTION The present inventionpicks up where l the-;prior arteleaves releasing meansonlywhenthe sill of theaircraftcandthusthe upper endoftheslide) is higher than apredetermined-height above the ground." By=this means theinflatablerlower-eextensi- "ble end portion of the slide; whi'chisnormallyzretained: in a 1 substantially deflated conditionandfoldedadjacent'or: tuckedv into a portion of-lthe-slide,-isautomaticallyreleasedto inflate vention,:anduthat:other=eornpartmengcontalner o 11 arrangements. couldtbe'aeffected at the behestzo H =.withoutdetracting frorn the essentialnoveltybf elinvention.

and deploy only when such extended deployment is desirable 1 ornecessary. p

- In otherwords; humanajudgrnentat a timeof'possiblezemo I tional'stressis notja principaldecisional factor forrthedeteb mination of whether ornot toextend-the slide.

This is important'because in thecaseI-ofanremergencyisituaw tioninvolving aniaircraft landing;- there maylormaywnotsbe a 1 requirement*for slide extension"; andphuman judgmenta-ought. i

not be a decisional requirement at a timejzofi-extrcmewemo- .efforts .ofthe .crew can moreexpeditiously d FF ed v to assisting? and aiding thepassengers the evacuation procedure in a more orderly manner.

Accordingly, it. is ageneralobject of the invention i to provideavariable lengtlislide-having a-deployable portion on {one .end thereofwhich isdeployable-automatically upon'the occurrence ofi apre'determined condition wherein the other end of the slideis at-agreater height thania predetermined height.

BRIEF-DESCRIPTION OF'THE'DR-AWINGS FlGx l isa highly schematicillustration. in elevated cross section of a portion -.ofanlair'c'raftat an emergency door location;

FIGLJZ is an illustration similar te l-165 1 but showing the emergencydooropened landthe container package-for the slide of the present"inventiondeployed from its stowage com I partmenton the door;

235 quick release gripping mechanism; disclosed asa slidefastener.

- FIGJ3 isza view similar to 'FlG.12,- butshowing the :inflatedslide-inside elevation; the sill 'of the aircraftbeing disposed at anorrnalsheightabove'the groundplane;

FIG. l4-isra frontielevation view-ofthe lower end of :the slide ofFlGlB;

FIG.-I5 "is a crossxsection view of a-portion of the escape'slide-,:takenonlthe1line 5+5 'of F16 3; FIGiI6is a view'similar'toFlG.*3,.butshowing the fully extended slide whert :the aircraft-"sill.is at-ahigher than predete'r -minedheightabovethe grpund-plane;

successive spaced-apart." fasteneralelements cooperatively FIG; 7 is afrontelevation viewofithe lower'end of the slide theline s-aor FIG); 6.

I DESGRlPTlONiGFT-l-HEBREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 'xthenaircraftlflgisqshown-in -;cro sssectionat an wemergency; doorsstation-withrthe'lemerge ncy door 132 Shown in closedtpositionz' lhezfloorelloftheaircrafthas-secured to it.

adjacent the sill-30f the door 12,1 a girtbar tl6 to which is'securedwthegirtil8 which forrns' apartoftheupper endtofi-the "'50.offiby providing a-simple andreliablei height sensingzmeans coupledwiththe quick release gripping rnecharu'sm.orreleas:

' ing means, the height sensing meansjserving: to; activatelthe''-.the:aircraft;asdepictedin' FlGLl.l It will be: appreciatedwthatpthemode. ot stouting the unin- 1 inflatable zescaper slideztolbeidescribed' laterfi The said slide. is; :disposed; deflated'and foldedwithin a soft-container package I which is :looselyeonfirted behind acompartment-forming hard container 22-l which is .open (atathesbottomgandipivotally mountedonthedoorasby a' hinge724; il'huslwhen; the;door ;1 2

flated slide in-the aircraft is of no ooncern with ,th presentine lt deist V lt fWillltflSO be. gapparentqlthatuthei slide about: tobeldescribed couldbecoupledwatoneendttoathe aircraft;lob h than'therpanicularlgirttand ,girt 'bararrangementshown The tiona'l stress.Thus, if there: is sari actual :arequirementafor w deployment extensionand thehuman rh'amial act has not'beeri "The-soft container-.package-;20 of-FIGS. l and l fimle lQpes made, in that event it ispossible that the slidet-woulaha'ng 131- most vertically from the doorand constitute .a uselesswescapei means. On the other hand; if there isno'actual-requirementfw extension and the manual release act hasbeenzperfonnedethe' slide would extendwith' sucha--shallowrslantzisurfacexangle girtubarrl6tmayg1ofacoursej,be-secured-to; thewaircraftlb y meanslyalready known in the 1 --art;.-.as rexemplif ed; b

I aforesaid l-leynigenpatentgortby'any other means-prei'erred byzthoseskilledintthe art.

28 of the package 20. The disengageable means may comprise, for example,a Velcro hook and pile arrangement which permits relatively simple andquick disengagement of the flap 26 from the portion 28 upon the adventof inflation procedure for the slide proper.

Disengageable arrangements of various kinds and types are well-known inthe at and need not be described herein in further detail or asalternate embodiments since they form no part of the invention. It ispreferred that the disengagement of the slide-engaging portions of thecontainer package 20 be automatically effected when the slide inflationis initiated. It is apparent, of course, that the disengageable meanscould be a relatively simple loop and grommet arrangement coupled to acord or cable which could be actuated manually to effect opening of thecontainer 20 for deployment of the slide folded therewithin, thearrangement being similar to that employed in parachute packs andwell-known to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 3 the slide 30, which was contained in deflated andfolded condition within the container 20 of FIG. 2, is shown as inflatedand deployed. The girt 18 which comprises a fabric apron extension ofthe upper end of the slide surface of the slide 30 thus holds the upperend 32 of the slide 30 securely against the outer skin 34 .of theaircraft immediately adjacent the door sill 36 while the lower end 38rests on the ground or other ground plane 40. The inflationconfiguration of the slide 30 as depicted in FIG. 3 is that obtainedwhen the door sill 36 is at its normal height above the ground plane 40.This configuration can be conveniently referred to as a normal inflationconfiguration.

Referring again to FIG. 3 and also to FIG. 4 the slide 30 is shown ascomprising a single fluid-trussed beam 42 surmounted by a pair ofinflatable hand rails 44 and 46, disposed adjacent the side edges 48 and50 of the beam 42. The top surface of the beam 42 between the hand rails44 and 46 thus provides the slide surface 52 which may be substantiallyflat across, as shown, or of somewhat rounded configuration as disclosedin the aforementioned I-Ieyniger patent. A flat slide surface could alsobe provided, if desired, by fabricating the slide after the mannerdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,623, issued Sept. 3, 1963, in the namesof Kenneth N. Schacht et al. The particular slide configuration isimmaterial and does not affect the novelty of the invention, thefeatures of which will not be described and which will be seen to beapplicable to all known inflatable slide configurations.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower end 38 of the slide 30 comprisestop and bottom flaps 54 and 56, respectively, provided with quickrelease gripping or clamping structure 58 which may comprise a pair ofslide fastener stringers 60 and 62 cooperable with a slider 64 wherebythe edges of the flaps 54 and 56 may be secured together, but quicklyreleasable upon actuation of the slider 64 by means of a cord or cable66, the lower end 68 of which is secured to the slider 64. The cord 66is disposed within a guide channel 70 the lower end 72 of which isfixedly secured to a side flap 74 formed on one side of the lower end 38of the slide 30. A side flap 76 is fonned on the other side of the lowerend 38.

The flaps 74 and 76 are joined respectively to the side edges of the topand bottom flaps 54 and 56 by means which retain the edges securely inthe normal inflation configuration of the slide 30, but which arereadily disjoined upon the advent of separation of the edge of the flap54 from the edge of the flap 56 by, for example, the movement of theslider 64 from the position shown to the other end of the stringers 60and 62 by a pull force exerted on the cord 66. The joinder meansaforesaid may be, for example, breakable threads or any other type ofbreakaway joint means such as cord loops and grommets of the type whichmay be employed to couple the slide enclosing portions of the containerpackage as aforesaid.

The guide channel 70 is secured as by sewing or bonding to, and extendsupwardly along, the side edge 48 of the beam 42 for a distancesufficient to enable guidance of the cord 66 through a plurality ofguide loops shown in FIG. 3 as being four and numbered as 78, 80 and 82,the latter of which is seen as being located adjacent the top end 32 ofthe slide 30. The guide loops 78-82 are preferably short guide elementshaving a cross section similar to that of the channel 70. along thelines depicted in FIG. 5. Preferably the channel 70 and the loops 7882are fabric or other flexible material which may be easily sewn or bondedby cementing to the beam 42.

An important feature of the invention is the cord 66 and the elementseither coupled to or cooperative with it. As aforesaid, the end 68 ofthe cord 66 is secured to the slider 64. Disposed on the other end ofthe cord 66 is a weighted mass 86 which is seen as resting on the groundwith some slack in the cord portion between the upper-guide 84 and theground.

Intermediate the guide loops 80 and 82 the cord passes through a one-waylock 88 which is cooperable with an elongate knoblike member 90 disposedon the cord 66. as best seen in FIG. 8. The lock 88 comprises a loop offabric material, for example, formed with side-by-side leg portions 92and 94, terminating in foot portions 96 and 98 which are secured on theouter surface of the side edge 48 of the slide by sewing or cementing. Arigid grommet 100 on the leg portions 92 and 94 defines a passageway 102through which the cord 66 passes. It will be observed that thepassageway 102 is sufficiently large enough to permit the tapered member90 to pass through also. A lock plate 104 of rigid material (asdistinguished from the flexible material of which the leg portions 92and 94 are comprised) is secured to the leg portions 92 and 94 at leasta slight distance from the peripheral edge of the grommet 100 by meansof a pop rivet 106.

It is now apparent from the structure of the lock 88 shown and describedthat the narrow nose end of the tapered member 90 guides the cord 66 andthe member 90 through the passageway 102 of the grommet 100 (from rightto left as viewed in FIG. 8) and past the rigid member I04 which isthereupon displaced slightly away from the grommet 100 by reason of theflexibility of the leg portions 92 and 94. When the entire taperedmember 90 is through the grommet I00 with the abrupt back end of themember 90 past the rigid member 104, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 8,the member 104 cooperates with the tapered member 90 and the grommet 100to prevent reverse travel of the cord 66 from left to right back throughthe passageway 102, for a purpose described below with particularreference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, it is seen that the aircraft 10 is positioned with the doorsill 36 at a considerably higher elevation above the ground plane 40than is the case with that shown in FIG. 3, and the weighted mass 86 isseen as suspended above the ground plane 40, although this may or maynot necessarily be the case in a particular situation.

The slide 30 is seen in FIGS. 6 and 7 with the flaps 54, 56, 74 and 76disengaged from each other, as a consequence of which the extensibleportion 108 of the slide 30 is inflated and deployed. As will be seen,referring back to FIG. 3, the extensible portion 108 is normallyretained uninflated within the slide 30 behind the secured flaps, alongthe lines shown and described in the aforesaid Heyniger patent.

Thus, when the slide fastener 64 is moyed from right to left as viewedin FIG. 4, the flap stringers 60 and 62 separate from each other and therestrained slide portion 108 retained behind the flaps is thenunrestrained against the initiation of inflation which thereupon breaksthe side flaps 74 and 76 away from the top and bottom flaps 54 and 56and thus pennits full inflation and extension of the slide portion 108.

The slider may be moved, as aforesaid, by tension on the cord 66 whichmay be applied manually through an emergency pull cable 110 which hasone end secured to the cord 66, or may be applied automatically by theaction of the one-way lock 88 on the tapered member 90. TheIast-mentioned action of the lock 88 comes about as follows.

The hanging portion 112 of the cord or cable 66 is normally stored withthe weight 86 within the container 20. As was noted above, after thecontainer 20 is freed from confinement and hanging from the girt 18, asshown in FIG. 2, the slide inflation is initiated whereupon thecontainer 20 opens to free the inflating slide 30. Also when thecontainer opens, the weighted mass 86 falls by gravity toward the groundand carries the hanging portion 112 of the cord 116 with it. The massmay or may not come to rest on the ground at this time, depending uponthe height of the sill 36 above the ground. If the mass does contact theground, the tapered member 90 is not pulled through the on -way lock 88by the cord portion 112 and hence no pull is exerted on the slider 64 bythe lower end cord portion 68, thus the flaps 54, 56, 74 and 76 willremain secured and the extensible slide portion 108 will be restraineduninflated behind the flaps. The slide will thereupon have the normalinflation configuration depicted in FIG. 3.

If, on the other hand, the height of the sill 36 above the ground issuch that the weight 86 does notcontact the ground, then the cordportion 112 pulls the tapered member 90 through the one-way lock 88,whereafter continued inflation of the slide'30 elongates the slide morethan the length of the lower cord portion 68 and the slider64 is causedto move from the fastened condition for the flaps 54 and 56, as shown inFIG. 4, to the unfastened condition shownin FIG. 7, and the extensibleslide portion 108 is free for inflation and deployment as aforesaid.

It should be noted that it is not necessarily a requirement that theslider 64 traverse the whole length of the stringers 60 and 62 in orderfor the lower distensible portion 38 of the slide to emerge from stowageand inflate. It is well-known that a slide fastener will containpressure exerted upon it until the t'astener has traversed a smallportion of the fastener stringers, and that thereafter the pressure (orpulling force on the stringers) tends to accelerate the unfasteningaction of the slider. Accordingly, it is seen that it is not essentialin the fastener apparatus disclosed herein for the tapered member 90 tobe displacedfrom the lock 88 a distance equal'to the total traverse ofthe slider 64 along the stringers 60 and 62.

It should also be noted that the quick release structure 58 may takeforms other than the slide fastener arrangement shown and described.Thus, it is within thepurview of the inventionithat quick releasefastener arrangements along the lines of those employed in parachutepacks, as mentioned above, could be utilized here, as well as any one ofa number of other known arrangements in which the releasing mechanism isfeatured by a pull cord or cable having a relatively short traverse ortravel distance for unfastening or releasing.

We claim:

1. A slide comprising:

a. an inflatable slide member having one end adapted to be secured to agenerally upwardly disposed structure with the other end directed towarda generally horizontal ground plane;

a deployable slide portion on said other end of said slide member;

releasable restraint means normally restraining said deployable slideportion against deployment unless a release force is applied, said slidemember thereby having one length of slide surface when said deployableslide portion is restrained against deployment and having agreater'slide surface length when. said restraint means is released;

.d. releasing means coupled with said releasable restraint I means forthe release thereof; and

e. height-sensing means coupled with said releasing means and effectiveto activate said releasing means only when said one end of said slidemember is higher than a predetermined height above said ground plane,said releasing means when activated cooperating with said slide memberto apply said release force to said restraint means, said release forcebeing generated by inflation of said slide member.

2. The slide of claim 1 in which said other end of said slide membercomprises restraint elements normally restraining said deployable slideportion against inflation and deployment.

, deployable slide portion against inflation and deployment.

4. The slide of claim 3 in which said releasing means comprises cordmeans having one end coupled with said quick release grip means and theother end coupled with heightsensing means, and also comprises one-waylock means on said slide member and cooperable with said cord means toeffect a lock of said cord means and thereby release said quick releasegrip means upon actuation of said lock means by said height-sensingmeans.

5. The slide of claim 4 in which said height-sensing means comprises aweighted mass disposed on said one end of said cord means.

6. The slide of claim 1 in which said releasing means comprises cordmeans and a weighted mass on one end thereof, the other end of saidcable means being coupled to said restraint means.

7. The slide of claim 6 in which said releasing means also comprisesone-way lock means on said slide member and cooperable with said cordmeans to effect a lock of saidcord means and thereby release saidrestraint means upon actuation of said lock means by said weighted mass.

8. The slide of claim 7 in which said lock means comprises a rigid tabelement flexibility mounted relative to a grommet element, said cordmeans passing through said grommet element, said lock means alsocomprising a lock activation element on said cord means, said activationelement being arranged to pass through said grommet element in onedirection and thereafter being locked by said tab element againstreverse direction movement through said grommet element.

9. An inflatable slide comprising:

at least one inflatable beam extending longitudinally of said slide;

means for attaching one end of said slide to a support structure;inflatable extension means on said slide and spaced'from said one end;

closure means releasably restraining said extension means frominflation;

a cable extending longitudinally. of said slide and connected with saidclosure means for releasing said closure-means upon movement of saidcable in one direction; and

means for moving said cable in said one direction in response to saidone end of said slide being spaced at least a predetermined distanceabove a surface, and holding means on said slide for holding said cableagainst-movement in the opposite direction, whereby inflation of saidslide while said one end is spaced at distance greater than saidpredetermined distance causes said cable to release the inflatableextension means to extendthe length: of the slide.

10. The inflatable slide according to claim9 whereinsaid closure meansincludes a slide fastener, said slide fastener'iricluding a slidermovable along a path spaced-progressively closer to said holding meansin the direction of opening-said closure means, and said cable beingconnected with said slider, whereby said cable pulls said slidertoreleasesaidqextension means upon displacement of said cable by saidmovmgmeans.

11. The inflatable slide according to claim 9whereinsai'tl moving meansincludes a weight attached to'said cableand-iricludes a guide for saidcable on said inflatable slidea'djaeerit said one end, whereby saidweight is suspendedfrom said guide for measuring the height of said oneend of said slide above a support surface. 12. The inflatable slideaccording to claim 11 whereinsaid cable holding means includes a lock onsaid inflatable slide adjacent said one end, and abutment means on saidcable adapted to pass through said lock in response to drawing saidcable longitudinally through said guide toward said one end of saidslide, said abutment means engaging said lock to prevent said abutmentmeans from moving relative to the lock toward the opposite end of saidinflatable slide.

held by said holding means. the length of said cable means between saidholding means and said closure means being less than the length of saidbeam between said holding means and said closure means; and

means for operating said holding means in response to measurement of atleast a predetermined height of said one end of the beam above asurface,

14. The inflatable slide according to claim 13 wherein said operatingmeans includes a guide adjacent said one end of inflatable slide, saidcable means extending through said guide and having a weight on saidcable means spaced from said guide, whereby said predetennined height ismeasured by said cable between said weight and said guide.

1. A slide comprising: a. an inflatable slide member having one endadapted to be secured to a generally upwardly disposed structure withthe other end directed toward a generally horizontal ground plane; b. adeployable slide portion on said other end of said slide member; c.releasable restraint means normally restraining said deployable slideportion against deployment unless a release force is applied, said slidemember thereby having one length of slide surface when said deployableslide portion is restrained against deployment and having a greaterslide surface length when said restraint means is released; d. releasingmeans coupled with said releasable restraint means for the releasethereof; and e. height-sensing means coupled with said releasing meansand effective to activate said releasing means only when said one end ofsaid slide member is higher than a predetermined height above saidground plane, said releasing means when activated cooperating with saidslide member to apply said release force to said restraint means, saidrelease force being generated by inflation of said slide member.
 2. Theslide of claim 1 in which said other end of said slide member comprisesrestraint elements normally restraining said deployable slide portionagainst inflation and deployment.
 3. The slide of claim 2 in which saidrestraint elements are separable flap elements having joinable edges,and said releasable restraint means comprises quick release grip meansnormally joining said joinable edges together to restraint saiddeployable slide portion against inflation and deployment.
 4. The slideof claim 3 in which said releasing means comprises cord means having oneend coupled with said quick release grip means and the other end coupledwith height-sensing means, and also comprises one-way lock means on saidslide member and cooperable with said cord means to effect a lock ofsaid cord means and thereby release said quick release grip means uponactuation of said lock means by said height-sensing means.
 5. The slideof claim 4 in which said height-sensing means comprises a weighted massdisposed on said one end of said cord means.
 6. The slide of claim 1 inwhich said releasing means comprises cord means and a weighted mass onone end thereof, the other end of said cable means being coupled to saidrestraint means.
 7. The slide of claim 6 in which said releasing meansalso comprises one-way lock means on said slide member and cooperablewith said cord means to effect a lock of said cord means and therebyrelease said restraint means upon actuation of said lock means by saidweighted mass.
 8. The slide of claim 7 in which said lock meanscomprises a rigid tab element flexibility mounted relative to a grommetelement, said cord means passing through said grommet element, said lockmeans also comprising a lock activation element on said cord means, saidactivation element being arranged to pass through said grommet elementin one direction and thereafter being locked by said tab element againstreverse direction movement through said grommet element.
 9. Aninflatable slide comprisiNg: at least one inflatable beam extendinglongitudinally of said slide; means for attaching one end of said slideto a support structure; inflatable extension means on said slide andspaced from said one end; closure means releasably restraining saidextension means from inflation; a cable extending longitudinally of saidslide and connected with said closure means for releasing said closuremeans upon movement of said cable in one direction; and means for movingsaid cable in said one direction in response to said one end of saidslide being spaced at least a predetermined distance above a surface,and holding means on said slide for holding said cable against movementin the opposite direction, whereby inflation of said slide while saidone end is spaced a distance greater than said predetermined distancecauses said cable to release the inflatable extension means to extendthe length of the slide.
 10. The inflatable slide according to claim 9wherein said closure means includes a slide fastener, said slidefastener including a slider movable along a path spaced progressivelycloser to said holding means in the direction of opening said closuremeans, and said cable being connected with said slider, whereby saidcable pulls said slider to release said extension means upondisplacement of said cable by said moving means.
 11. The inflatableslide according to claim 9 wherein said moving means includes a weightattached to said cable and includes a guide for said cable on saidinflatable slide adjacent said one end, whereby said weight is suspendedfrom said guide for measuring the height of said one end of said slideabove a support surface.
 12. The inflatable slide according to claim 11wherein said cable holding means includes a lock on said inflatableslide adjacent said one end, and abutment means on said cable adapted topass through said lock in response to drawing said cable longitudinallythrough said guide toward said one end of said slide, said abutmentmeans engaging said lock to prevent said abutment means from movingrelative to the lock toward the opposite end of said inflatable slide.13. An inflatable slide comprising: at least one inflatable beamextending longitudinally of said slide; inflatable extension means onsaid slide and spaced from one end of said beam; closure means spacedfrom said one end of the beam for releasably restraining said extensionmeans from inflation; cable means connected at one end with said closuremeans; holding means on said beam between said closure means and saidone end of the beam for selectively holding said cable means againstlengthwise movement when being held by said holding means, the length ofsaid cable means between said holding means and said closure means beingless than the length of said beam between said holding means and saidclosure means; and means for operating said holding means in response tomeasurement of at least a predetermined height of said one end of thebeam above a surface.
 14. The inflatable slide according to claim 13wherein said operating means includes a guide adjacent said one end ofsaid inflatable slide, said cable means extending through said guide andhaving a weight on said cable means spaced from said guide, whereby saidpredetermined height is measured by said cable between said weight andsaid guide.